A Star In The Midst Of Darkness
by Karania Avalon
Summary: Mandy was a baby when Team Magma came to her house and kidnapped her, killing her parents in the process. Maxie intends to raise Mandy as his own, but how will Mandy react to that when she becomes old enough to think for herself? No flames.
1. Prologue

A Star In The Midst Of Darkness 

~*~

Authors note:  Mandy's a baby when this happens , and this happens while its still nighttime. 

~*~

Prologue 

"Oh, hello!  I didn't realize we had visitors."  Mandy's father said.

"Get Mandy out of here."  Her mother said.  "They want to take her."

"Shut up, you old bat!"  Maxie turned to the grunts and said, "You know what to do with them……"

"Yes, sir."  The grunts replied.

The grunts dragged Mandy's parents outside, and a few minutes later gunshots were heard, forever separating Mandy from her parents.

"Good, Mandy's mine now.  I'll raise the baby as my own.  Come on everyone, let's get the baby's things……"  Maxie said.

Everyone walked up to the baby's room, and the grunts and Admins began collecting Mandy's baby stuff, while Maxie and Courtney walked over to Mandy's cradle.

Maxie looked at the baby, "I'm so glad that she's mine!  She's beautiful!"

"She sure is."  His wife, Courtney replied.

Maxie got the baby carrier and brought it over to her cradle, and his wife picked Mandy up, wrapped her in one of her blankets, and put her in the carrier.  Mandy continued to sleep, and Courtney picked up the carrier and carried it downstairs with Maxie following closely behind her.  Now some of the grunts appeared carrying Mandy's cradle.

"Be careful with that, you don't want to break it by accident."  Maxie said.

"Yes, sir!"  The grunts replied.

Ten minutes passed before all of Mandy's stuff had been loaded into the back of their truck.

Now Maxie said, "Come on wife, let's take Mandy to her new home."

Courtney followed Maxie outside and they got into Maxie's car, and the rest of the grunts and Admins all got into their cars, and together everyone drove back to their base.


	2. Mandy's New Home

Chapter 1 

Maxie and his wife arrived back at their base with the baby, and once at their base Courtney picked up Mandy's carrier and carried it inside.

Maxie turned to the grunts and Admins and said, "Okay, you're to unload the van and take all of Mandy's stuff to the room next to me and my wife's room."

"Yes, sir!"  Everyone replied.

Now all the grunts and Admins began unloading the truck, and carried all the stuff into the room Maxie had mentioned.  Some of the grunts carried Mandy's cradle into the room, and some Admins brought her blankets a few minutes later, and they set them in the cradle.  Ten minutes passed before all of Mandy's stuff had been unloaded and carried into the room.  Then some of the Admins went to get Maxie.  They found him in his office with his wife and the baby.  Mandy was still sleeping when the Admins entered.  

Maxie looked up from where he was watching the baby and asked, "Is everything set?"

"Yes, sir.  Her stuff's been carried in and set up."  The Admins replied.

"Good, then we should get Mandy back into her cradle so that she can sleep more comfortably."  Maxie said.

Maxie waved his hand to dismiss the Admins, and they left.  

Now Maxie looked at his wife and said, "Come wife, let's get Mandy, or our new 'daughter' to bed."

Courtney nodded and picked up the carrier again, and they carried Mandy to her room.  Once in her room, Courtney took Mandy out of the carrier, and Maxie picked up the blankets, then Courtney laid Mandy into the cradle.  Maxie handed the blankets to his wife and she covered Mandy with them to help keep her warm.

Maxie looked at the baby as she slept and said, "It's hard to imagine that this child will have incredible psychic powers when she gets older, and that will help our cause.  When the time comes, I'll pull her into Team Magma and use her powers against Team Aqua.  They won't know what hit them if I use her as a spy because the psychics in their group can't detect other psychics, so she'll be safe."

Maxie turned to leave, but before Courtney left she set up the baby monitor so that she'd know if Mandy woke up and started crying.  Now Courtney left the room too, taking the device that would allow her to hear Mandy with her.  Mandy, not knowing that she had been kidnapped continued to sleep in peace.


	3. Rescue or Kidnap?

Chapter 2 

The next morning when Mandy had woken up and started crying, Courtney ran out of her room, got a baby bottle full of milk, and then hurried to Mandy's room.  Courtney entered the baby's room, and set the bottle on the table before she walked over to the cradle and picked Mandy up and started rocking her in her arms.

"Don't cry, baby, it's all right…….  Mommy's here now……."

After awhile Mandy stopped crying, and Courtney picked up the bottle and sat down in the rocking chair that had been place in her room.  Then she began rocking Mandy as gave Mandy her bottle of milk.  Mandy sucked on her bottle in silence as Courtney rocked her.  When all of the milk was gone, Mandy snuggled up against Courtney and went to sleep.  As soon as Mandy had gone back to sleep, Courtney stopped rocking, stood up, set the bottle back on the table before she walked over to the cradle and carefully laid her into the cradle and covered her back up with her blankets.  As soon as Mandy was tucked in, the door opened and Maxie entered.

"Is she all right?"  Maxie asked.  
  


"Yes, she is.  She was only hungry."  Courtney replied.

"Good."  Maxie said.

Now Courtney asked, "Maxie, how old do you think Mandy is?"

"Hmm……  My guess is that she's three years old, since she's a large baby and her cries can be pretty loud.  I could hear her crying all the way up in my office."

Just then some grunts entered.  Maxie turned around, "Yes, what is it?"  

"Sir, we're sorry to interrupt your quiet time with your daughter, but TA has invaded our base."  

"What!?  We have to stop them!  I won't allow them to take Mandy, she's so young and if we educate her with the correct slant, she'll be totally loyal to our side..."  

Just then the door opened and some Team Aqua members entered with their boss.  Courtney ran to Mandy's cradle to shield her from the TA agents.

"What's with the baby?"  Archie asked at last.  "This is my daughter, Mandy."  Maxie said finally. 

"Did you hear everything we said?"  Courtney asked.

"Yes, everything, and I think that Mandy could prove useful to us and not you."  Archie said.

Some more Aqua agents entered the room so that the members of Team Magma were outnumbered.

"What on earth are you doing!?"  Maxie exclaimed.

"I'm taking Mandy with me."  Archie replied.

"Oh, yeah?  Do you really think that's gonna work?"  Maxie said.

"Actually, yes.  Restrain them."  Archie commanded.

The grunts grabbed Maxie, Courtney, and the Team Magma grunts, and Archie picked up Mandy's bag that contained her baby stuff and slung it over his shoulder.  He then walked over to the cradle and lifted Mandy up into his arms, blankets and all.  Maxie struggled against the grunts trying to get free, but he just couldn't.  Now Archie and his grunts left the room, and left the base in a hurry.  They took Mandy back to their own base and some of the grunts hurried to the storage room to find a cradle or a playpen for Mandy.  A few minutes later, the grunts appeared carrying a cradle, and the rest of the grunts were carrying a baby pillow and a mattress pad.  A few minutes later another grunt appeared with a baby radio.

They found Archie and he said, "Take the things to the room next to my own, and let me know when everything is set up.  I'll be up in my office with the baby."

"Yes, sir."  The grunts replied.

The grunts took all the stuff to the baby's room and set it up.  Then they went to get Archie.  They entered his office and found Archie rocking the baby in his arms.

"Uh, boss?"  One grunt asked.

"Yes?"  Archie replied.

"Everything's been set up for the baby."  The grunt replied.

"Good.  Then let's get Mandy back to bed, as my arms are starting to go numb from rocking her."

Archie and the grunts walked to the baby's room, and once there, Archie entered and the grunts stood outside the door.  Archie carried Mandy over to her cradle and carefully laid her into it.  Then he took her blankets and covered her with them to keep her warm.  Before he set up the baby monitor and took the device that would allow him to hear Mandy with him.  Mandy, not knowing that she was being held hostage continued to sleep in peace.


	4. Protecting Mandy

Chapter 3 

Back at the Team Magma base, Maxie was forming a plan of action to retrieve Mandy from the Aquas.  After a lot of thought, Maxie finally decided to do exactly what Team Aqua had done to him.  Maxie now went to get a group together so that they could go invade Team Aqua's base to get Mandy back.  Once he had his group together, everyone ran out of their base to pursue the Aqua agents.

~*~

Meanwhile in the Team Aqua base, Archie was watching his little captive sleep.  "I've never had a baby prisoner before…..  I hope I know what I'm doing….."  Archie muttered.

Just then a siren started going off, and Mandy woke up and started wailing.  Archie quickly lifted her up into his arms and began rocking her, "Shh…….  Don't cry, Mandy, it's all right……  I won't let anything happen to you."

After a few minutes Mandy stopped crying and snuggled up against Archie and fell back asleep.  "Aw…….  What a darling child.  She doesn't even know me and she trusts me……."  Archie thought.

Just then some grunts entered.  

"What's wrong?"  Archie asked while holding Mandy.

"Team Magma has invaded our base, we think they're after Mandy."  A grunt said, while eyeing Mandy in a concerned manner.

Archie looked down at his blanketed bundle before he said, "Here, take Mandy out the secret entrance to our randevouz point."  Archie said, while handing Mandy to the grunt.

"What should we do if she starts crying"  The other grunt asked.

"Just rock her, and her crying should subside after awhile.  Now get going, I'll try to hold them off for as long as I can."

"Yes, sir!"  

The grunts now left the room with Mandy and hurried through their base to the secret entrance, and they exited their base.  Mandy was still asleep in the grunt's arms and she had no idea that she was being moved again.  They soon reached the randevouz point and they moved out of sight and sat down to wait for Archie.

~*~

Meanwhile, back in the Team Aqua base Maxie had found Archie.  "I demand that you give me back my daughter!  She's mine by blood."  Maxie demanded.

"I doubt that, but I'll give her back to you if you can beat me in a battle."  Archie said slowly.

"Agreed."  Maxie said, while drawing a poke ball from his belt.

Archie did likewise and drew a poke ball from his belt.  They both threw their poke balls and a Mightyena and a Torkoal appeared.  The battle now got underway.

"Torkoal, use Flamethrower!"  Maxie yelled.

"Mightyena, use Swagger."  Archie said calmly, while hoping that the grunts had gotten Mandy to the randevouz point by this time.

~*~

Back at the randevouz point, Mandy had woken up and was begging to be let down.

"What do you think, do you think it would hurt if I put her down?"  The grunt holding Mandy asked his companion

"I don't think it'll hurt so go ahead and let her down.  Who knows maybe she can learn to walk."  He said nonchalantly.

The other grunt set Mandy on her feet and his companion took Mandy's hands so he could support her a little.  "Come on, baby, you can do it, take a step."  The grunts encouraged.

Mandy lifted her foot and took a step.

"There ya go, keep coming."  They encouraged.

Mandy took another step, and the grunts cheered.  "That a way!  Now try to walk on your own."  The grunt now let go of her hands and Mandy tried to take a step, but she fell in the attempt.  Mandy looked disappointed, so one of the grunts helped her up and said, "Don't give up, keep trying and you'll get it."

Now Mandy tried to take another step and this time she didn't fall.  The grunts cheered, "There you go, you're doing it!"

Mandy took a few more steps before she walked back to the grunts and sat down.  The grunts continued to keep a watchful eye on her since they would be the ones who would have to answer to Archie if she got hurt.

"I wonder how the boss is doing……"  One grunt said.

"Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing."  The other grunt replied after a pause.

With not much else to do, the grunts and Mandy waited for Archie to come, but it was uncertain as to how long it would be before Archie showed up.


	5. Archie's Victory

Chapter 4  
  
Back in the Team Aqua base, the battle was still raging between Archie and Maxie. Archie had recently fainted his Camperupt, but Maxie still had two pokemon left in his arsenal.  
  
"Houndoom, use Overheat!" Maxie cried.  
  
Overheat hit Mightyena and fainted it.  
  
"Alright, Sharpedo, you're up!" Archie said, throwing his second poke ball.  
  
"Houndoom, use Crunch!" Maxie cried.  
  
"Double-team, Sharpedo." Archie said calmly.  
  
"Argh!" Maxie said annoyed.  
  
"Sharpedo, use Surf!" Archie ordered.  
  
"Houndoom, use...... Uh...... What was I going to say!?" Maxie said.  
  
The wave crashed down on Houndoom, knocking it out in the process.  
  
"Not again!" Maxie cried.  
  
"You'll have to do better than that if you want Mandy." Archie said smugly.  
  
"I'll get Mandy, yet." Maxie said confidently.  
  
"I doubt that." Archie said.  
  
"Go, Mightyena!" Maxie cried, throwing his last poke ball.  
  
"Sharpedo, use Crunch!" Archie ordered.  
  
"Mightyena, use Rock Smash." Maxie said calmly.  
  
Mightyena got its attack in first before Sharpedo bit down on it, draining it of some of its HP.  
  
"Sharpedo, use Surf." Archie said, clearly wanting to wrap this battle up.  
  
"Mightyena, use Bite......." Maxie said nervously because he thought that he was about to lose the battle.  
  
Surf hit first and as it did Houndoom, and knocked Mightyena out.  
  
"Gah! You may have beaten me, but you haven't seen the last of me! I will get Mandy back if it's the last thing I do!" Maxie said running off.  
  
"Well that took care of that...... Now to go to the randevouz point to see how Mandy and the grunts are doing." Archie said.  
  
~*~  
  
Back at the randevouz point, Mandy was walking around again while the grunts were watching her.  
  
"There you are! Aw....... The little child learned to walk." Archie said.  
  
A grunt looked at Archie, while the other kept a watchful eye on Mandy.  
  
Archie walked over to Mandy and picked her up, "Let's get her to our other base near Petalburg. They'll have a hard time finding that one since it's underground." Archie said.  
  
The grunts nodded, and followed Archie to their other base. 


	6. Mandy's Illness

Chapter 5 When they reached their base near Petalburg, they took Mandy inside and took her to the infirmary.  "Boss, why are we taking her to the infirmary?"   One of the grunts asked. 

"I want to find out whether or not she's really Maxie's daughter and running a DNA test on her is the only way to find out."  Archie replied.

"Will it hurt her?"  The other grunt asked while looking at Mandy.

"No, it will only require a strand of her hair, so it won't hurt her."  Archie said, cradling Mandy in his arms.

They now reached the infirmary and a grunt opened the door and Archie carried Mandy inside and carried her over to a doctor, and the doctor asked, "What's wrong with the child?"

"Nothing's wrong with her, I just wanted to know if you could run a DNA test on her since Maxie let slip that she's his daughter.  I want to know if that is really true."  Archie replied, while looking at Mandy.

"Sure thing, I've got one of Maxie's hairs in a little bottle; I'll only need one of Mandy's to be able to run the test."  The doctor replied.

Archie held Mandy as still as he could in his arms, and the doctor gently removed one of her hairs.  Mandy yawned and Archie smiled, "Get some rest, Mandy, you've had a long day."  Mandy laid her head against Archie's shoulder and fell asleep, and Archie continued to hold her.

The doctor left the room with the hair sample he had obtained from Mandy and went to get Maxie's hair so that he could run the test, and he returned with the results in a few minutes.  A few minutes later, the doctor returned with the results and when he returned Archie asked, "What did you find, doctor?"

"The test showed that she's not Maxie's daughter, but somebody else's that he claimed as his own."  The doctor replied.

Archie looked shocked, "Then who is she?"

"I don't know……  Wait!  I just saw an article in the newspaper about a murdered family and a missing three year old.  I think that Mandy might be that missing child."  The doctor said after a slight pause.

"Can I see this article?"  Archie asked.

"Of course."  The doctor said.  Then he went to retrieve the article and returned with it in a few minutes.

"Here let me take Mandy, so that you can read the article."  The doctor said.

Archie handed Mandy to the doctor and took the article from the doctor and began reading it.

**The article read:**

_Last night police were called to a quiet Fallarbor neighborhood at about ten o'clock last night after neighbors reported hearing gunshots.  Amelia and Johnathan O'Hara were found outside their home murdered.  The fate of their three year old daughter, Mandy, is unknown.  Police are still not ruling out the possibility that she might have been kidnapped.  When police were searching the family grounds, they found that Mandy's cradle and all her things were missing; so the police are pretty sure that Mandy was kidnapped.  If anyone has seen Mandy, found her, or has any information concerning her, you are encouraged to call the Fallarbor Town police._

Archie finished reading the article and looked up and glanced at Mandy before he said, "I've got to contact the police as I'm pretty sure that we've found Mandy."

Absentmindedly the doctor placed his hand on Mandy's forehead; then he removed his hand in a hurry when he felt that she had a slight fever.  "This isn't good……  The little child has a fever……."  The doctor said.

"What!?  How?  She hasn't been doing anything other than sleeping and a small amount of walking."  Archie said.

"I don't know……  I would like to keep her overnight so that I can keep an eye on her."  The doctor requested after glancing at Mandy.

"Sure, of course you may keep her overnight."  Archie said, taking a long glance at Mandy.  "Mandy……  Hang in there, sweetheart……"

The doctor now took Mandy and gave her back to Archie so that he could go get a playpen for Mandy.  A few minutes later, the doctor reappeared carrying a playpen and he carried it over to a very noticeable corner, and put it together since he had to compress it to move it.  A few minutes passed before the playpen was fully set up, and when it was the doctor walked over to Archie and took Mandy from him and carried her over to the playpen and put her to bed.  All that could be done now was keep an eye on Mandy and try to determine how long it would take to get rid of her fever.  Exactly how long it would take to get rid of Mandy's fever the doctor wasn't sure, but he continued to keep a vigil watch over the little child, while Archie looked on in silence.  Mandy not knowing that she had a fever and might be really sick continued to rest in a fitful sleep.


	7. A Discovery

Chapter 6 

The doctor kept a watchful eye on Mandy all night, but to his surprise her fever subsided late in the early morning hours, so he knew that she had only caught a 24-hour virus and that she was going to be just fine after she had gotten some rest.  His final decision was to keep Mandy in bed and keep her comfortable for the day so that her virus wouldn't come back, and he planned to tell Archie this when he came to check on the child.

Archie came back to check on the child around 7:00 that morning.  "Aw…...  She's still asleep…….  I hope she feels better."  Archie said, while looking at Mandy.

"Archie, I would like to keep Mandy in bed until late this afternoon so that I can be sure that the virus she caught doesn't come back."  The doctor said.

Archie looked surprised.  "She caught a virus!?"  Archie exclaimed in a shocked manner.

"Don't worry, Archie, little children are always coming down with some type of sickness that doesn't last long.  She'll be perfectly well by this afternoon, she only needs rest, so don't worry."  The doctor glanced at Mandy before he looked at Archie again and asked, "Did you contact the Fallarbor Police yet?"

Archie looked up from where he was watching Mandy before he replied, "No, not yet, I'll do that in a minute, but you're right, if Mandy is that missing child it can't go unreported; so I will get in touch with them."

"Good, though I wonder what will happen to Mandy if she turns out to be the missing child."  The doctor remarked.

"Most likely they'll come for Mandy and try to place her with other relatives."  Archie replied.

"You're probably right about that, though there is there a chance that Maxie could recover the child when you're turning her over to the police?"  The doctor asked, clearly concerned about Mandy's safety.

"If Maxie recovers her, he's probably going to try to raise her as his child, if that happens there's a good chance that Maxie will pull Mandy into his team when she gets old enough.  I can't afford to let that happen because I care for Mandy's well-being and I would hate to see her get hurt by my team……."  Archie replied.

"I'm sure you'd think of someway to capture her in a way that didn't involve hurting her."  The doctor remarked after a pause.

"Yeah, hmm……  I might use a Poliwhirl to hypnotize her into sleep so that she won't get hurt if Maxie manages to turn her against us."  Archie said, after a moment of thinking.

The doctor nodded in agreement before he said, "True, that would work, and it wouldn't hurt her since that attack would only lull her to sleep, and it wouldn't hurt her while it was being used on her."

Archie looked at Mandy, praying that he wouldn't have to take the child captive again.  "Though hopefully, we won't have to worry about that, and we can hope that Mandy will be placed with relatives and will grow up into a darling child."  Archie said, still looking at Mandy.

"I hope that too.  Now, if you want to contact the police, I think now would be a good time to do it, since we have no way of knowing whether Maxie will attack our base and manage to recover Mandy in that attempt."  The doctor said.

"I'll do that."  Archie replied.

~*~

Back at the Team Magma base, Maxie was hearing reports from one of his grunt spies, who had discovered that Team Aqua had a base near Petalburg, and that one of them had seen Archie carrying Mandy back to that base.

"So, you're telling me that you saw Archie carrying Mandy back to his other base?"  Maxie asked one of his spies.

"Yes, sir, I saw Archie carrying the child to his base near Petalburg."  The grunt replied.

"You know where the entrance to their base is, right?"  Maxie asked.

"Yes, sir, I do."  The grunt replied.

"Where is it?"  Maxie questioned eagerly.

"They've dug their base underneath the Petalburg Woods.  The entrance to it is underneath a large tree stump that they've fixed so that they can roll it off the entrance and then move it back over it to conceal it."  The grunt replied.

"Good, now thanks to your information we can go retrieve Mandy.  As a reward for your accomplishment, I'm going to promote you.  You're an Admin now, Adam!"  Maxie exclaimed, handing Adam a special pin.

Adam looked surprised.  "Thank you, boss, I'll bear my new responsibility with pride and I await your next order."  Adam said.

"Gather the grunts and have them meet me at the entrance, we're going to retrieve Mandy."  Maxie replied.

"Yes, sir!"  Adam now ran off to do as Maxie had asked him to do.

Little did Archie now that his alternate base had been found and also that Maxie and his grunts were coming for Mandy.


	8. Don't Take Mandy!

Chapter 7 

"Don't Take Mandy!"

Maxie and his group were on the way to Petalburg City to reclaim Mandy from Team Aqua.  Maxie had a large number of Team Magma agents come with him this time so that the major drawback he had experienced before wouldn't happen again.  The group of Team Magma agents reached the Team Aqua base at around noon and began searching for the tree stump that concealed the entrance.  About ten minutes later they found it and slid the stump aside and entered the base.  Once inside, the Team Magma members began searching for Mandy when they tripped an alarm.

"Dang it!  I bet they'll hear that……….."  Maxie muttered.

Sure enough some Team Aqua members came running around the corner to find out what the matter was.  The Team Aqua members saw the Team Magma ones and drew some poke balls for battle.  The Team Magma members did likewise and drew their own.  The battles raged for a while, but the Team Magma members managed to come out on top.  The Team Aqua grunts ran to the infirmary to tell Archie that Team Magma had invaded their base.

"Follow them."  Maxie ordered his group.

"Yes sir!"  The group exclaimed and followed Maxie as they pursued the Team Aqua members.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The Team Aqua members reached the infirmary and entered it.  Once inside, they walked over to where Archie was watching Mandy sleep.

Archie looked up and turned around when they entered.  "What's going on?" Archie asked them.

"Team Magma have invaded our base, and we think they're after Mandy."  A grunt said.

"What!?"  Archie exclaimed.

"What I just said."  The grunt said.

"Uh-oh……….  Mandy might be in danger…….  And there isn't time to move her……..  We're going to have to make sure that they stay a good distance away from her while she rests in the infirmary."  Archie said.

"I heard that."  Maxie said, entering the infirmary with 10 of his grunts behind him.

Archie scurried to shield Mandy from Maxie, but Maxie's grunts ran forward and cut him off so that he couldn't get to Mandy.  Then some grabbed Archie and his two grunts while Maxie walked over to Mandy's playpen and lifted her into his arms, blanket and all.  Then he left the room with Mandy and his grunts followed about seven minutes later after buying Maxie some time for him to get a fair distance away.  Then after buying him some time, Maxie's grunts followed him out of the Team Aqua base.  Maxie walked over to the Petalburg Beach and boarded his Team Magma plane and his grunts boarded a few minutes later.  Maxie carried Mandy to a seat near the front of the plane and sat down with Mandy and rested her head against his shoulder and covered her up a little bit more with her blanket.  Once all of Maxie's agents were aboard, the pilot shut the door and began the take-off procedures and a few minutes later the plane began to rise into the air.  Mandy didn't awaken and merely snuggled up against Maxie while she slept.

"Aw……  What a darling child, I'm so glad I got her back."  Maxie thought.

Just then Mandy started to cry, and Maxie was jerked out of his thoughts and back to the child he had claimed as his daughter.

Maxie started to rock Mandy, "Shh……  Don't cry Mandy, as your father I won't let anything happen to you……"

After a few minutes, Mandy stopped crying and rested her head against Maxie's shoulder again.  Once Mandy had settled down again, Maxie relaxed and continued to hold Mandy as the Team Magma plane flew through the evening sky back to the Team Magma base.


End file.
